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Pax
Hello everyone! God is so good!
It is approximately 12:20pm on Wednesday where I am! I arrived safely in Brisbane, Australia yesterday around 1pm exactly 48 hours after I left my beloved Nebraska! I flew from Lincoln to Denver to San Francisco to Sydney and finally to Brisbane. My long flight was 15 hours and definitely was not the greatest experience. It was very rough so I wasn't able to get much sleep. I watched roughly 6 different movies including the classic Scooby-Doo. When I arrived in Sydney I had about a 4 hour layover so I was able to FaceTime my little brother Isaiah who had just gotten out of school. Wow were we excited to see each other!
I met a very nice old man during check in who was very intrigued by my accent and offered to buy me coffee so he could ask me questions about the US--he had never been there and was very interested. That kind of took me by surprise but what American turns down free coffee and a chance to listen to an Australian accent so of course I said yes! During my flight to Brisbane I sat by a woman who again was very intrigued by my American accent but this time I was able to ask her all of my questions and see how many of my stereotypes and assumptions of Australia were true. She laughed at me so many times about some of the things I asked. I learned that kangaroos are to Australians as deer are to Nebraskans. They are more of a pest and cause more ruckus than anything. Once out of the cities it is very normal to see dead kangaroos on the side of the road as road kill. That broke my heart. Also they don't grow "crops" here--she laughed at this word. Pickups/trucks are called Utes and they aren't your big Chevy pickups, they are more like your little s-10 pickups. They drive on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road and let me tell you this is terrifying as a passenger. That is going to take some getting use to. The woman has a 10 year old son who is obsessed with the USA so she is hoping to take him there someday. After learning about tornadoes in Nebraska she said she would probably stay far away from the Midwest.
I was picked up at the airport in Brisbane by one of the NET Staff who was waiting for me by luggage pick up with a sign that said "HANNAH ZELASNEY". One of the first things she said to me was you must be so hot you are wearing a jumper. I gave her a very confused look and said no I'm not I haven't worn a jumper since I was like 6. Translation--a jumper in Australia is a sweatshirt. I was then dropped off at David and Helen Plant's home. They are my first Australian host couple. They have 9 grown children and 19 grandchildren. David took me to the mall to get an outlet converter and we went to Target--it is similar to US targets but a little different. I tried using my employee discount but the machine didn't recognize it--rats! I couldn't understand why everyone was staring at me until David reminded me that here I am the one with the accent not everyone else. I couldn't help but chuckle--I forgot ha!
These next 2 days are for me to catch up on sleep and get adjusted to life 16 hours ahead of home. I feel like I'm living in the future it's so weird! Tomorrow one of the Plant's sons is taking me into the city so I can be a tourist for a day! Friday all 45 of us missionaries and the staff will be heading north to Peregian which is like a camp that is right on the beach and we will spend the next 5.5 weeks there going through NET Training. I'm not sure if wifi will be available so I may not get to send the next update till post-training. Our Commissioning Mass with the Bishop is Saturday, February 21st and it is then that we will be "sent out" to proclaim the WORD! Sometime between Friday and then I will find out what team I am on and who my teammates will be, both of which I am very excited and anxious to find out!
It is approximately 12:20pm on Wednesday where I am! I arrived safely in Brisbane, Australia yesterday around 1pm exactly 48 hours after I left my beloved Nebraska! I flew from Lincoln to Denver to San Francisco to Sydney and finally to Brisbane. My long flight was 15 hours and definitely was not the greatest experience. It was very rough so I wasn't able to get much sleep. I watched roughly 6 different movies including the classic Scooby-Doo. When I arrived in Sydney I had about a 4 hour layover so I was able to FaceTime my little brother Isaiah who had just gotten out of school. Wow were we excited to see each other!
I met a very nice old man during check in who was very intrigued by my accent and offered to buy me coffee so he could ask me questions about the US--he had never been there and was very interested. That kind of took me by surprise but what American turns down free coffee and a chance to listen to an Australian accent so of course I said yes! During my flight to Brisbane I sat by a woman who again was very intrigued by my American accent but this time I was able to ask her all of my questions and see how many of my stereotypes and assumptions of Australia were true. She laughed at me so many times about some of the things I asked. I learned that kangaroos are to Australians as deer are to Nebraskans. They are more of a pest and cause more ruckus than anything. Once out of the cities it is very normal to see dead kangaroos on the side of the road as road kill. That broke my heart. Also they don't grow "crops" here--she laughed at this word. Pickups/trucks are called Utes and they aren't your big Chevy pickups, they are more like your little s-10 pickups. They drive on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road and let me tell you this is terrifying as a passenger. That is going to take some getting use to. The woman has a 10 year old son who is obsessed with the USA so she is hoping to take him there someday. After learning about tornadoes in Nebraska she said she would probably stay far away from the Midwest.
I was picked up at the airport in Brisbane by one of the NET Staff who was waiting for me by luggage pick up with a sign that said "HANNAH ZELASNEY". One of the first things she said to me was you must be so hot you are wearing a jumper. I gave her a very confused look and said no I'm not I haven't worn a jumper since I was like 6. Translation--a jumper in Australia is a sweatshirt. I was then dropped off at David and Helen Plant's home. They are my first Australian host couple. They have 9 grown children and 19 grandchildren. David took me to the mall to get an outlet converter and we went to Target--it is similar to US targets but a little different. I tried using my employee discount but the machine didn't recognize it--rats! I couldn't understand why everyone was staring at me until David reminded me that here I am the one with the accent not everyone else. I couldn't help but chuckle--I forgot ha!
These next 2 days are for me to catch up on sleep and get adjusted to life 16 hours ahead of home. I feel like I'm living in the future it's so weird! Tomorrow one of the Plant's sons is taking me into the city so I can be a tourist for a day! Friday all 45 of us missionaries and the staff will be heading north to Peregian which is like a camp that is right on the beach and we will spend the next 5.5 weeks there going through NET Training. I'm not sure if wifi will be available so I may not get to send the next update till post-training. Our Commissioning Mass with the Bishop is Saturday, February 21st and it is then that we will be "sent out" to proclaim the WORD! Sometime between Friday and then I will find out what team I am on and who my teammates will be, both of which I am very excited and anxious to find out!
This morning when I woke up at 5:31am I forgot where I was. I couldn't understand why birds were singing to me and why I was so hot. Then I remembered I am in Australia and the sun rises at 4am and its normal for it to be 80 degrees by 8am.
I am so excited to meet my brothers and sisters in Christ that God has also called with me right now to serve His young people here in Australia! To truly be poor for Christ and to carry within us His Word, radiating through us, everywhere we go. Thank you all so much for your prayers for safe travels, I am here and well, thanks be to God! Know of my prayers for you and I can't wait to share more of this adventure with you! God love you!
With love in the Word Himself,
Hannah Zelasney
I am so excited to meet my brothers and sisters in Christ that God has also called with me right now to serve His young people here in Australia! To truly be poor for Christ and to carry within us His Word, radiating through us, everywhere we go. Thank you all so much for your prayers for safe travels, I am here and well, thanks be to God! Know of my prayers for you and I can't wait to share more of this adventure with you! God love you!
With love in the Word Himself,
Hannah Zelasney
